How To Turn Off Motion Control On The Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch, compared to its predecessors the Wii and Wii U, is a much more traditional game console, with a big emphasis on pad-based controls. There is still some waggling here and there, Nintendo's pretty set on that at this point, but it's a lot less in-your-face about it. Even so, there are plenty of games with just as much emphasis on motion controls as the Wii's games had, and after the deluge of motion control content we all had to put up with in the seventh and eighth console generations, it's understandable to be a little burnt out on the concept.

The question, then, is whether or not it's possible to enjoy your Switch and its games while completely refusing to take part in any waggling. In other words, is there a way to turn off the motion control functionality in your Switch and play your games exclusively through the medium of a traditional game pad?

Unfortunately, while the Switch is more friendly toward pad users, its motion controls are still integral to functionality. As such, there is no universal toggle in the Switch's settings to completely disable motion control input. You can calibrate the motion controls of your controllers and the console itself in the Settings, but that's about it.

That said, while there is no way to entirely disable the Switch's motion controls in the console's internal settings, there are a couple of external tricks. Specifically, you can toggle motion control functionality in the individual games you play, as well as through the hardware you use.

The default Switch Joy-Cons, as well as the Switch Pro Controller, all have motion control functionality built-in. The same goes for most wireless third-party Switch controllers. However, some third-party controllers, usually wired ones, do not feature motion control functionality, which means it'll be disabled by default. PowerA's Spectra Enhanced wired controller is a good example of this.

Some of the Switch's games are fully reliant on motion controls by design, and cannot be played without them. These include games like "1-2-Switch," "Ring-Fit Adventure," and other games that are explicitly designed to take full advantage of the Joy-Cons' motion and direction-sensing functions. That said, games that feature pad-centric playstyles will usually have some manner of toggle in their standalone settings for disabling incidental motion control features.

Nintendo

For example, let's say you wanted to disable motion control aiming in "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom." All you have to do is boot up the game, go to the settings on the main menu, and disable the Aim with motion controls toggle. Obviously, the exact steps for this will vary from game to game, but generally speaking, if a game is fully controllable with just pad buttons and relegates motion stuff to nonessential elements, there should be a toggle like this in the game's settings menu or pause menu.